Photos of the Day: This is just MEAN!

From time to time, the MTA decides to try and glean extra revenue by having the Times Square shuttle(s) wrapped in advertising. The interior and exteriors of the cars are shrink wrapped for travel campaigns or other marketing pushes. Some of these are better than others - in design, content, and/or timing. For example, the Lady Gaga new album campaign that's encasing one of the shuttles right now, is rather ... um ... disturbing. Thank goodness there is no audio component to the inset television screens.

For the most part, I like the travel campaigns best. It's like a 3 minute get-away. The Norway and Iceland travel campaigns during the height of the summer heat were refreshing and yet mean, all at the same time.

Like this recent campaign from Brazil - not long after the incessant winter storms.

My little cell phone camera came in handy for these quickie shots.

(What is Brazil calling me, exactly?)

Please stand clear of the closing doors.

This exit does not lead to sand and surf. Brazil is just messing around with you. Life's not a ball, or a beach.
And to just taunt you further, you are going to be subjected to subliminal messages about carnival, Rio, Ipanema, and other Brazilian delights, while you have to deal with winter blahs, summer rains, and the gritty, grimy mess that is your commute.

Brazil is calling you. Celebrate life .. you poor schmuck of a commuter.

Have a nice day!

(HA!)

Recipes from Grandma -- Grandma's Brownies

I have to be honest. This recipe isn't from one of my grandmothers, or great aunts, or even my mother.

It's a recipe from a semi-humorous cookbook I discovered long after college, entitled, Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen, which was co-written by a mother and son, Kevin and Nancy Mills. This must be one of their grandmothers' recipes.

When I have to whip up brownies from scratch rather than from a box mix, I use this one. It's really good. Of course, I make ALL kinds of substitutions, but what baker doesn't. If you look in the background of one of the photos below, you can see that this page of my cookbook has a swipe of chocolate across it from an earlier batch.

I'm going to quote the whole thing, because Kevin's commentary is funny. Such a guy.

Grandma's Brownies
Makes 15-16 Brownies, Each 2 inches*
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Rating: Easy

There is something mysterious about brownies. A hundred people could follow the same recipe and each person's batch will come out different. My first attempt came out too dry because I didn't have the right pan. I got creative, divided the batter into two bread pans and overbaked both. But even if they didn't taste as good as Grandma's, how bad could they be? They were still chocolate.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine + more for greasing pan
3 squares unsweetened chocolate (substituted cocoa/oil as on back of Cocoa Box)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour + 1 teaspoon for dusting pan
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (skipped)

Place one of the oven racks in the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter or margarine and chocolate in a small pot over very low heat. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Beat the eggs thoroughly in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer if you have one. Otherwise, a fork will do. Add the sugar gradually and mix thoroughly. Add the cooled mixture and mix again. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Add the vanilla and walnuts and mix again.

Lightly rub the bottom and sides of a 10x6-inch or 8x8-inch pan with butter or margarine. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon flour and swirl it around, coating the buttered surfaces. This keeps the brownies from sticking to the pan. (I actually skip this step and just spray the pan with Pam.) Pour the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or knife comes out clean when inserted into the center.

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Cut into squares* and serve. Store in a closed container or wrapped in foil.

*Or cook in my fancy brownie pan that makes equal sized brownies, so no one has to fight over the bigger square.

One of the best part of this book are the Mom Tips/Warnings scattered throughout, like this one:

Mom Warning:
Don't confuse unsweetened chocolate with semisweet. Both types of chocolate come in flat boxes with each ounce of chocolate individually wrapped. Make sure you use unsweetened chocolate in this recipe or you will definitely have a disaster. Unsweetened chocolate is bitter to the taste. Semisweet chocolate, which is what chocolate chips are made of, requires much less sugar than unsweetened chocolate. I once made the mistake of using semisweet chocolate instead of unsweetened in a fudge recipe. The end result was so sickly sweet that I had to throw it out. It was a very sad occasion.

To that I also say, don't try to satisfy a chocolate craving by trying to eat unsweetened chocolate which you have snuck out of your mother's fridge when she is not home, which you know aren't supposed to be doing in the first place, and if you get caught you are going to be in so trouble when she gets home, and then the phone rings and your guilty conscience goes into paranoid overdrive that somehow she knows. Or something like this that I know nothing about! ~ aka NOT ME! I don't know. It was Jed. Or J.J. No... the babysitter!!! That's it.

Photo of the Day: Poem Party Poster

You never know what you're going to see on the walls of the Big J. This was spotted at some point during the middle of the semester. I had to snap it with the cell phone before it disappeared.

However, it does pose a few questions:

To whom do I RSVP?
Where can I go to see who is attending?
Why are pants necessary?
Are only pants necessary?

WHAT DOES THE OSTRICH HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

Photos of the Day: I'd rather be barefoot!

I've been staring at the lawn since it was just steel beams, girders, and hirsute union guys. And then I watched as multitudes of people and puppets tromped all over it. I had never managed to cross the street and climb up there myself -- until a few weeks ago.

Ah, grass. It was so nice on my pale dry feet.

Sadly, now I know how badly I need to go and get a pedicure!

Photo of the Day: Retail Rafts

Spotted in an Ocean State Job Lot, Eastern Connecticut, June 2011 via cell phone

Sadly, I have no room in the studio or real reason to purchase any of these flotation devices. If I was closer to a reservoir, or the Bronx River actually allowed paddlers ...

Photo of the Day: Marking the Time

Spotted at the Big J, in one of the Artists' Green Room, via cell phone:
Millions of dollars on construction and renovations, and THIS is the best that we can do?

Food for Thought: It's Vacation Time!

I'm taking off for a few days, but I thought I'd leave you with some eye candy and some food for thought.

Menu Page from Connor's Cafe, near Burley, Idaho, c. August 2010

Connor's Cafe as seen from the highway at high speeds, c. August 2010

I cannot adequately describe the scene at the Cafe, (farmers, truckers, and locals, oh my!) but the food! The food tasted as good as this looks. My fried chicken was awesome, and the baked Idaho potato - IN IDAHO - was flaky goodness: hot, steamy, dripping with butter and salt and pepper. So good.

The rolls were also delicious. I could have eaten just the rolls -- about a dozen of them. I exerted some self control, however, and saved mine for dessert - with a little jelly.

Grandmary tried to make us feel guilty by ordering a salad - but look at the size of that chef salad! You can't be too health conscious with all of those toppings. Grumpa Max solicited the recommendations of other diners and ordered a special not on the menu. I think it was called the Hangover Buster -- a scramble with potatoes, meat, peppers, onions, and cheese, that even the hardened truckers and farmers couldn't manage to finish.

There was supposed to be pie. Connor's is known for pie. There were signs about pie. I started salivating about pie, and I don't even LIKE pie that much. Sadly, we pulled in too late, and the waitress was pretty much "done" with working andthen forgot to ask us if we wanted any. I was pretty carbed out though, (corn is considered a vegetable, not a grain, in these locales), so it was just as well.

Sadly, on this long weekend getaway, I will not be getting this kind of food, but with three dinner appointments and a brunch scheduled, not to mention a bridal shower, I won't go hungry for company, laughter, and nourishment for body and soul.

Back later. Stay tuned.